Hyuuga Hinata, Class 1-B
by Pony Juice
Summary: At first, Hinata wanted to join cooking club. Now she wants to know why there are forms to join the most dangerous and feared gang in Konoha. Hinata, it helps to read before you sign a deal with an Uchiha.
1. In the event of signing any contract

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. **

"Join the peach farming club!"

"Make a wish and become a magical girl today,"

"Hey, try to hit me you little shrimp! Loan shark club might be right for you!"

"It's not like I want you to join our club because you look like you'd fit in well with us or anything! I-Idiot!"

"Tennis!"

"Cooking club," Hinata said breathlessly, running away from a club member wielding a trumbone. "Where is the cooking club?"

A boy smiled at her and handed her a form. "Here,"

"Oh, th-thank you!" she exclaimed.

Hinata glanced warily at a small first year surrounded at all sides by the knitting club and shuddered. The last she saw of the poor kid was flashing needles and wide, terrified eyes.

Oh well. She was just happy to finally find the club she was looking for. Hinata smoothed the paper on her knee as she sat on a bench covered in cherry blossom petals.

Name: Hyuuga Hinata

Year: 1

Class: 1-B

Experience:

Hinata tapped her chin with her pen at that, enjoying the sunlight warming her skin and the gentle breeze in her hair. Ah, this was it. Her rose-tinted, beautiful, youthful high school life. She smiled as she wrote,

Bake sales and home.

Hinata blinked at the parentheses underneath.

(Include all previous experiences, including contrabands)

Contrabands? As in something illegal? Illegal…food? Illegal cooking utensils? She bit her lip, white eyes squinting. Surely it was a typo?

Interests: Reading, gardening

"I sound like a granny," she muttered. She quickly added, "watching movies."

Hinata pursed her lips and finished the rest of the form (former alliances, aliases, and territor[y/ies]). Surely the club just had an unconventional way of asking things.

She vaguely heard screams from where the kendo team and basketball team were "recruiting." Neji had informed her that recruiting largely consisted of beating first years to near death and then accepting those who still wanted to join. Hinata shook her head and held herself. She was not going back into the fray, dubious club forms be damned!


	2. In the event of being kidnapped

"This can't be the right form,"

Hinata scratched her cheek.

"What, uh, makes you say that?"

Ino shot her a flat look and slammed the folder down on Hinata's desk.

"Hinata, they're asking for a _bodycount_. Come on, you can't misinterpret that,"

Hinata looked up to make sure their teacher hadn't noticed the sound the folder made. She fidgeted with her skirt hem and giggled.

"M-Maybe it's a bodycount for how many people you've 'knocked dead' with the yumminess of your food. Haha, see, it's just a joke, Ino-chan!"

At her classmate's unchanged expression, Hinata straightened in her seat and looked the blonde right in the eye.

"I made it a personal goal for myself to join a club in high school. I," she clenched her hem, knuckles white. "I was too much of a coward to join any clubs or teams in middle school, so I was - I am resolved to be active and make new friends this time. If I don't try to change," Hinata lowered her head. "If I don't try to improve myself now, it'll just become a bad behavior that will follow me for the rest of my life. So I'm going to check it out,"

Ino stared at her for a beat, then she sighed.

"I understand that, and I think you're beautiful for being brave and wanting that for yourself, but why not pick a club that seems more…what's the word -" her eyes brightened as she found the right word. "legitimate,"

Hinata smiled at her friend's concern. "I will be careful when I go to the meeting. I promise to get out if it turns out bad. Besides," she grinned. "I have Neji-nii on speed dial!"

She wasn't surprised to see Ino was still worried with the way she was tugging on her long ponytail.

Ino gave her a small smile in return. "Hm, I don't think anyone wants to mess with anyone who has Neji on speed-dial."

The last bell rang and the girls packed up their things. Ino waved as she headed to her family's flower shop. Hinata had the club application form securely in her schoolbag.

"Under the tree at the east corner of the school," she mumbled, darting her eyes to see if there was anyone else at the meeting spot.

Ten minutes passed.

Her shoulders slumped. She tugged at her bag strap and exhaled softly.

"Maybe I should just find another club like Ino-chan said,"

Just when Hinata was about to go home, a pink van pulled up. It had paper hearts and flowers decorating it and a "Just married" sign in red and white plastic letters on the front.

"Aww," she smiled. "Newlyw-MMMF!"

A large hand clamped over her mouth and nose, a hard body shoving her forward from behind. Hinata watched with wide eyes as the pink car door jerked opened from the inside and caught her captor's shin.

"Ow! What the hell, dude? That hurts!"

Hinata took the chance to squirm and kick, but the boy promptly shoved her into the car.

"Quit your squealing, dick,"

A boy with spiky brown hair and red markings on his face caught her. Hinata lunged forward towards the door, but a blonde boy with whisker-like markings on his face got in, rubbing his shin.

"That all of them?" The other boy had her wrists in his hand. He grinned at her. "I mean, not that you're not cute but we were hoping for more girls,"

The blonde clapped her shoulder, blue eyes bright and smiling. "So what's your name?"

There was a distinct sound of paper rustling.

"Hyuuga Hinata, class 1-B," the brown-haired boy read off her application.  
>He snickered. "'Likes to garden',"<p>

"H-How did you get that?" she squeaked.

Her schoolbag was opened on his lap.

Well.

He smirked. "I'm Kiba. This is-"

The blonde slung an arm around her shoulder."Uzumaki Naruto, believe it!"

Hinata looked at his arm in disbelief.

"Be-Believe-?"

"We're here!"

When Hinata gathered her bearings (the contents of her spilled bag, her surprise that her hands had been freed for some time, her risen-up skirt, and her hair), she slid out of the car behind Naruto and Kiba. Hinata made to run away, but suddenly the two rather muscular and tall boys flanked her with matching dangerous grins.  
><em>If you cooperate, we won't sell your organs. Or something.<em>

To add to her dismay, the Kiba boy had her cellphone in his hand. She didn't want to know when or how he'd swiped it from her skirt pocket.

Hinata looked on helplessly as they led her past silver gates.

"This - This is the Uchiha compound," Hinata said. The red and white clan symbol was set proudly in her line of sight. Her heart dropped as the gates closed behind them with a sound click  
>She paled.<p>

"Wh-Why are we here?"

Naruto pounded her back. "Chill, you're our new member, so you gotta be here,"

"New member…of the cooking club?" Her voice trailed off at the end.

The boys exchanged looks then burst out laughing.

"Cooking club? Nah, this is a gang!"

Kiba's flashed his fangs. "We're Rookies, Hina-chan."

llllll


	3. In the event of a fire

**disclaimer: Don't own Naruto! **

Rookies.

Uzumaki Naruto. Inuzuka Kiba. Aburame Shino. Nara Shikamaru. Akimichi Chouji. Rock L-

"SISTER!"

Black bushy caterpillars eyebrows. Wide, sparkling round eyes.

Hinata screamed.

"She's turning blue!"

"You're not helping, Naruto!"

Lee pulled back to stare at the newest member of his family.

"Hello, sister Hinata!"

Hinata stared back at him in horror.  
>"H-How do you know my-"<p>

She heard a familiar rustling sound.

"Hyuuga Hinata, first year, class 1-B,"

Lee held her with one hand on her shoulder and her application in the other hand.

"'Likes to garden.' Ah, so my sister is aligned with nature!"

"Oh!" Naruto shielded his eyes and grinned. "They caught up!"

A fat boy was lying down on his back, panting and drenched in sweat. Another boy stood with his arms crossed and his chest heaving.

Thin dark eyes narrowed at her.

"Is this all?" He scoffed. "All this trouble for a girl on the team,"

Lee stood in front of her, thick brows pushed inwards and a fist pressed to his chest.

"Hinata is our light, our hope-"

"It's worth it," Kiba insisted. "She smells good,"

"-nymph of nature, champion of youth -"

Shikamaru glanced down. "Cho passed out,"

"Hinata-chan,"

Naruto stuck a thumb towards the entrance of the house. "Want to go inside now?"

Hinata looked at the strange boy wearing green spandex striking emphatic poses at the yawning boy sitting down next to the fat boy and patting him on the stomach. Then she looked at the Uchiha home looming ahead. She bit her lip and sighed.

lllll

"I was…ignored," he said.

Kiba didn't need to see through friend's sunglasses nor did he need to see the rest of his face to know that Shino was sulking.

"Offer her some juice," Kiba suggested.

He reached to bury his fingers into Akamaru's fur but frowned when he remembered that Sasuke didn't want "dog fur, dog drool, and filthy dog paws" in his home.

He certainly hadn't voted for that dickless dog-hating weenie but the decision for leader was unanimous after the first incident with the Suna.

Shino cleared his throat.

"Hinata-san,"

His eyebrow twitched.

"Hyuuga-san,"

He pushed his glasses up and inhaled slowly.

"Hinata…chan,"

Kiba groaned.

Shino stared at him. Then,

"Hinata-sama?"

"Just go!"

lll

Naruto roughly scooped out some flour with his hand and dumped it into a large mixing bowl.

"It'll be perfect, man," he shouted over his shoulder as he busily cracked some eggs. "This cake will definitely win Hinata-chan over,"

"I agree wholeheartedly!"  
>Lee popped open a bag of sugar and passed it to Naruto. "Then she will gladly be part of our family,"<p>

Naruto peeked into the living room where Hinata was sitting on the sofa, back straight and fingers tightly intertwined. She lifted her strange, white, pupilless eyes before quickly shifting them back to stare at her knees.

He pumped his fist, blue eyes blazing. "Don't worry, Hina-chan. We'll do our best to make you comfortable with us,"

"Where is the curry powder?" Lee asked.

Naruto blinked.

"Bottom cabinet next to the oven."

llll

"Hinata-san, would you like some juice?"

Shino cleared his throat again.

"I am Aburame Shino. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. Hyuuga-san, may I offer you a beverage of your choice?"

Hinata's unease grew the closer the boy got to her. He was…talking to himself.

Between her kidnappers, the green-spandex boy, the unconscious fat boy and his friend, who was sleeping in the garden, and this creepy boy whose face was almost entirely hidden, Hinata couldn't decide who was better or worse.

Then the fire alarm went off.

"NARUTO!"

Hinata squinted at the smoke clouds blowing out of the kitchen and scrunched her nose at the burning stench.

"I thought it would bake faster that way!"

"RUN!"

lllll

Shikamaru sighed.

They had interrupted his nap/cloud gazing because of Naruto's dumbass.

Naruto was shouting at Kiba and Lee, looking both defensive and scared.

Shikamaru snorted. Sasuke was a bit lenient when it came to his best friend and his limited mental capabilities, but burning down the Uchiha's kitchen?

He vaguely heard the roar of Sasuke's motorcycle and yawned.

Hinata was sitting on her heels, far away from where the noisy ones were. She looked up when his eyes fell on her. He looked away first.

Creepy eyes.

"Hinata-san,"

Everyone stopped and stared at  
>Shino. His clothes were charred and his nose was smudged black.<p>

He held up a glass of juice.

"May I offer you this beverage?"


	4. In the event of a dramatic escape

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. **

Naruto twirled a lock of blue-black hair.

Kiba smoothed some wrinkles in the comforter for the fourteenth time.

Chouji slowly reached into his bag of chips, wary of making rustling sounds.

Lee wrung the glass of water in his hands, black eyebrows pointed up together in distress.

Shino was...sulking.

Shikamaru gazed out through the window. Sasuke was stepping off of his bike. He was running his fingers through his hair, his face in its usual flat, disdainful expression.

Hinata was perfectly still, her hands at her sides, creepy pupil-less eyes closed.

The burnt food stench had mixed with the air freshener (linen-scented) they had sprayed frantically in the midst of cleaning up the kitchen (or what remained of it).

"Holy shit, when Sasuke gets home he's going to fucking kill you,"

"Naruto is at fault as well!"

"I was just trying to help!" Naruto ground his teeth. He stood up and pointed at Shino. "I'm not the one who creeped Hinata-chan out so bad that she passed out!"

"Don't pick on him," Kiba growled and grabbed Naruto's collar. "Only I get to make fun of the freak,"

Shikamaru drew invisible patterns on the bed sheet with his finger, wondering how they could be so unobservant. "Guys,"

"I was not aware that it was flammable!"

"This is just like the time you dropped a wasp nest on your foot,"

"Aw, shut up! I thought there would be honey in it,"

"_Guys_,"

The front door slammed. Shikamaru groaned.

The boys froze, heads turning slowly.

"Did...did you hear something?" Naruto scratched the back of his head and grinned nervously.

Shikamaru rubbed his forehead. "It's going to be troublesome to explain all of this,"

After making sure the sleeping girl in the guest bed was carefully tucked in,

the boys trudged across the house to the foyer. Naruto was at the front, slouching and mumbling about it not being his fault, Kiba followed, scuffing his slippers on the floor with Lee next to him, still wringing the glass in his hands. Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino skulked along behind them.

Sasuke Uchiha stood in the foyer, his nose up. He looked at them with cold black eyes. "What is that smell?"

lll

Hinata exhaled as she silently slid the bedroom door close. She turned towards the window and frowned at the bed. She smoothed out the wrinkles in the comforter and fluffed the pillow. "There," she beamed. "Now it's time to take my leave, I think."

Hinata was conscious by the time someone had tucked the comforter up to her chin. A sly peek showed the boys huddled around her, lining the nightstand with juice and water and warm washcloths.

They were...odd. Kidnap her, cook for her, then nurse her? What kind of gang initiation, if that's what _this _was supposed to be, was this? In any case, Hinata thought as she slung her bag over her shoulder, she was not joining a gang. For obvious reasons, for the fact that she was a Hyuuga, for Neji-nii shanking her if she did anything remotely dangerous and/or involving boys, and for the sake of common sense. Hinata liked to give people the benefit of the doubt, but there was nothing little doubt left even in her about the motives of a gang of boys trying to make a girl join. Hinata had her pride. She would not be some idol, or the group girlfriend. She was not that desperate for a community or friends that she would allow herself to be placed on a pedestal from which a group of teenage boys could look up her skirt. That she considered it at all was shameful.

Hinata slid the window open, grateful to the deities that they put her on the first floor Hinata could manage the drop to the Uchiha's beautiful front lawn. The gates would be another problem, but nonetheless a hurdle she'd have to overcome somehow, with a little luck and courage.

Hinata landed with a small "oof!" on the damp grass. Her heart raced at her daring escape from one-story window from Konoha's notorious gang. She looked over her shoulder just in case one of them had found her out. She took a deep breath and headed towards the gates. She briefly noted the gray sky and a faint rumble of thunder in the distance. Rain would be inconvenient if she was going to climb the gate. A little luck and courage indeed.

lll

"It was Naruto and Lee," Kiba grabbed the two by the backs of their blazers and dropped them at Sasuke's feet. "They did it!"

"Traitor!"

Sasuke sniffed and rubbed his nose. "Get me a tissue,"

Lee produced a pouch of tissues and held them above his head to their leader. "If these will suffice! I will begin my road to redemption with this!"

Sasuke accepted the pouch, briefly glancing at the colorful flower pattern on it.

Shikamaru raised a brow at Sasuke. "You alright?"

The youngest son of the Uchiha clan blew his nose and grimaced. "I think I'm catching a cold,"

"I will make you some tea!" Lee scrambled to his feet and saluted.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "With what kitchen?"

Both offenders blanched.

Sasuke scoffed and took of his blazer. He rolled up his shirt sleeves and crossed his arms as he stood before the blonde and the bowlcut. He leveled them with a piercing glare. "How will you pay for this? I offered my home as a gathering place and second home for all of you and this is how you treat my kindness?"

The innocent four exchanged looks. If Sasuke was going to launch into an overdramatic spheel, then they were going to sit this one out on the couch.

"I'm sorry, teme! It was an accident, I swear," Naruto cried and planted his face to the floor. "It's because-"

"Hinata?" Kiba gaped and pointed at the surveillance camera. "Hinata's outside!"

"What?" Sasuke stared at the surveillance video of the Uchiha front yard on the panel by the door. They all gathered at the panel to watch the long-haired figure in a sailor uniform dart across the lawn.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and punched a button on the panel. Another fangirl and she'd made it that far without these idiots noticing?

"What did you just press?" Naruto asked, blue eyes wide. "Sasuke, wait, that's Hinata!"

"Whatever her name is, I hope she learns her lesson not to trespass on my property," The dark-haired boy said coldly.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Kiba stopped him. "We invited her!"

"She is our sister!"

He raised a dark brow. "That's not my problem,"

A high-pitched scream came from the video.

Comprehension struck the boys.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the lapels. "You didn't,"

Sasuke shoved him off and smirked. "So what if I did?"

lll

A wet drop fell on her nose. Hinata wiped it. She only had a little way to the gates left. If it started raining, then it'd be to slippery to try to hop the gate. Why was the front yard so big?

Huffing, she sprinted towards the rose bushes. She looked over her shoulder, paranoid as ever that they had caught her and were coming for her. So far, it seemed to good to be true. She felt something brush past her ankle. Grass, probably. She felt it again, this time something cold and definitely not just grass. She looked down.

Then she screamed.

lll

"Snakes? What is wrong with you?" Naruto screeched and yanked the front door open.

"I hope they're not the venomous ones," Shikamaru remarked as he leaned against the pillars on the porch.

Sasuke shook his bangs from his eyes as he tracked the girl's progress and his comrades racing towards her. "Garter snakes for first-time offenders. They're harmless,"

"Ah, from your exotic pet collection. That's a bit much," Shikamaru said. "It was Naruto's idea to get a girl, as a mascot or something. I don't know," He scratched his nose. "I didn't think any girl would be dumb enough to come. The application made it pretty obvious that it wasn't cooking club or whatever,"

"Regardless, I don't want to see her here again," Sasuke turned and stepped back into the house.

"Sure," Shikamaru sat down on the front steps and watched the boys make a fuss. He rolled his eyes. "What a bother."

lll

"HINATA-CHAN, DON'T WORRY! I'M HERE TO SAVE YOU!"

"Stay back!" Hinata shrieked as she felt one curling around her arm, with another one slithering up her black stockings.

"Sister!"

Shino was squatting down and studying the snakes. "Hm,"

"Well?" Kiba anxiously looked between Shino and the distressed Hinata. "Are they poisonous or not?"

"Snakes are not in my area of expertise but no, they're not venomous," Shino declared.

Kiba shouted, "It's okay, they won't kill you!"

"Really?" Tears streamed down Naruto's face. All he got for his efforts to rescue Hinata was a snake in his hair and a snake curling around his hand. He fell on his back. And then he fainted.

Lee smiled as he pulled the snakes off of Hinata, who had dropped next to Naruto, her lips parted in an "o." She watched warily at the green snakes as they slithered away. She lowered her hand slowly onto one of snake's scaly back and marveled at the feeling. It hissed and disappeared through the matching green grass

"Sister really is aligned with nature," Lee beamed and joined her on the grass.

Kiba let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Sasuke is such an ass," He patted Shino on the back and grinned. "At least your creepy hobby was useful for once,"

Shino frowned. "I resent that,"

They all looked up at the sound of shuffling feet. "Yo," Shikamaru said.

"You're late," Kiba said. "Where's Chou?"

"Watching TV," Shikamaru said. "Sasuke wants her gone,"

"He can go fuck himself," Kiba grumbled. "He's the leader because we let him. He doesn't control us,"

"He gets the last say," Shikamaru sat down next to a fainted Naruto. He looked up."It's going to rain soon,"

"I-I think I'm going to go home now," Hinata stood slowly, brushing the grass from her skirt. She bowed her head. "Um, I'm sorry for all the trouble,"

"No more trouble than usual. Hey, Hinata," Kiba stood up, ruffling his hair. "Do you want in or not? If you want to be part of the gang, then we can fight for you,"

Hinata pulled at her sweater sleeves and paused to consider, wondering why anyone would want to go so far for her. "No thank you,"

"You wanted to join a club, right?" Kiba rubbed his chin. "I don't see how clubs are that much different from our gang,"

Hinata looked at him in disbelief. "N-Not that much different...?"

"Where's your cellphone?" Kiba asked.

He found her cellphone in her sweater pocket and took it before she could answer. He punched in some keys and handed it back to her. "My number. Call when you make up your mind, yeah?"

Hinata looked at him blankly and then at her phone, which was warm from his hands. "Um-"

Kiba toed Naruto's limp leg. "Don't worry about Sasuke. He was born with a dick up his ass, so don't mind him,"

Hinata lifted her white eyes to Shikamara, Shino and Lee. Lee was pulling Naruto onto his back to carry the unconscious blonde.

Lee caught her eye and gave her a thumbs up. "Hinata-chan is already a part of our family in my eyes,"

Shino nodded. "I would be pleased to have you join us,"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't really care,"

Hinata could think of more people who would care if she joined a gang. She shook her head. "I-"

"Why is she still here?"

Hinata paled at the sight of Sasuke Uchiha standing in front of her with his arms crossed. Black eyes stared directly at her. "Leave,"

"Chill, man. She was just going," Kiba shoved past Sasuke, roughly bumping his shoulder with his. A muscle twitched on the impassive Uchiha's face.

Kiba bared his sharp canines at Hinata in a wolfish grin. "Call me!"

Shino gave her a quiet farewell while Lee raced off with Naruto's limp head bouncing and arms flailing as Lee ran. All the while, Sasuke watched her, face expressionless and eyes hard.

Hinata folded her hands in front of her, avoiding Sasuke's harsh dark eyes. Shikamaru pulled at some blades of grass, ignoring the two. She blinked when she saw feet approaching her. She looked up quickly, catching the pale handsome face that had singlehandedly ruined most of Konoha's female population for all other men. Sasuke was the younger brother of the Uchiha heir, Itachi Uchiha. He was not to be outdone and matched Itachi's legacy as a prodigy with an almost desperate effort and intensity in academics and athletics. This had earned him considerable regard, including that of the girls. Sasuke and the rest of the kids in their grade attended the same kindergarten and elementary. Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, and Hinata had earned a spot in the prestigious Konoha all-girls junior high school and high school, which had ended any "fated" bumps and brushes with Sasuke Uchiha.

A forked tongue flicked out at her. Sasuke was dangling a snake in front of her face.

His voice was low enough that only she could hear him."This time they were harmless," He dropped it at her feet. Hinata bit the inside of her cheek. She braved a look and froze. He was studying her face, brows furrowing slightly when she met his eyes. Hinata dropped her eyes and clasped her hands.

"I apologize for entering your home without your permission," Hinata breathed out slowly. "I d-don't intend to return,"

"I wasn't giving you a choice," He said. Sasuke pulled his phone out and pressed a key. The enormous gates opened. Sasuke gave her a mocking bow.

Hinata's face burned with humiliation. She adjusted the strap of her bag and went through the gates. She ignored the feeling of black eyes watching her back.

Sasuke scoffed. A drop of rain fell on his forehead. He wiped it absently. "What the hell were you idiots thinking trying to recruit the Hyuuga heiress?"

"We weren't thinking." Shikamaru said as clouds unleashed the rain.

lll

Hinata's pulse drummed in her ears as she ran. The thunder sounded closer and louder. It was the only warning she had before a drop of rain plopped onto her head.

"Oh!" Hinata exclaimed."Oh no, oh no! Please wait, I need to get my bike!"

The rain didn't wait; it poured.

Her bag swung at her side as she pumped her legs. The rain soaked her to the bone. "Why," she wheezed. "is the school so far?"

She finally reached the bike racks. Thankfully there was an awning over them. She took a moment to sweep wet locks of hair from her face. Shaky hands fished out her lock key and unlocked her bike.

"Hinata-sama,"

Hinata screamed.

"Oh," She pressed her hand to her pounding chest and giggled nervously. "N-Neji-nii! How strange of you to be here at a time like this! What a strange coincidence,"

Neji stood with a large black umbrella, scowling. He crossed over to her and put the umbrella over the two of them.

"Hinata-sama, it is almost 7:30 PM. You were not at school nor did you inform me of any after school activities. Where did you go?"

"B-But I did have an afterschool activity! I even have the application, see?" Hinata managed to pull out the wet sheet and presented it to him.

"You didn't call home," He pulled her coat out of a bag and put it over her shoulders. "You forgot your coat and umbrella at home too. Come,"

Hinata checked her skirt and blazer pockets and rustled her bag as they hurried to the car. After a few futile pats to her pockets, she said in a quiet voice, "I think I lost my phone,"

"You acted irresponsibly today," Neji opened the car door and ushered her in. He got into the driver's seat and exhaled heavily, white eyes showing concern. "Hinata-sama, please don't do this again. I thought the worst had happened to you,"

Hinata squeezed some water out of her long hair, her fingers ice cold. Her teeth were chattering. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I got swept up today, I guess," If he knew half the things that had happened...

Neji asked if she felt the heater and adjusted the vents until Hinata admonished him to stop fussing. The drive home was quiet and warm. It was April, but it was still cool in the evenings and when especially so when it rained. The rain and the drive were making her drowsy.

"Nej-nii, what about my bike?" Hinata asked sleepily.

"I'll drive you to school tomorrow," Neji's expression turned dark. "I still don't think you should have to ride that thing to school,"

She frowned. "Father says it would help if I was more physically active,"

"Help with what?" He tapped the wheel impatiently and scowled. "Hinata-sama is perfect,"

She blushed and waved her hand at that. "He thinks I'll be stronger if I biked every day,"

"If our schedules didn't conflict, I would have been able pick you up every day," he grumbled.

Hinata pressed her fingertips to the heater. The car rolled up to the Hyuuga manor.

She patted her face with her warm hands. "Is Father home?"

"He had business with the council today,"

Neji grabbed her bag and the umbrella from the backseat. He opened the door and the umbrella and went around to her door. "I already asked for a bath to be prepared,"

Hinata ducked under the umbrella. She pressed her bag to her chest and smiled at the thought of a warm bath after a long day. Neji spoiled her an awful lot, but she couldn't say she didn't enjoy it.

The house was dim and quiet. There was only the sound of the rain and soft movement from the housekeepers. Hinata slid open the bathroom door and almost swooned at the scent of the freshly cut flowers placed on the counters, the warm steam, and her fluffy towels and robe. She was all too happy indulge her senses. The water warmed her cool skin and the scented bathwater made sure that she left smelling like a field of wildflowers and sugary pastries once she got out.

Hinata was humming, hugging her soft robe and touching her face, post-sheet mask and chamomile-infused moisturizer for her sensitive skin. Indulgence at its finest!

Once dressed and dried, she curled up in her bed, the sheer lavender canopy down and the lamp on her nightstand lit. She felt like she was missing something. Her eyes widened and she slapped her forehead.

"My phone," she griped and flopped onto her stomach. "I wanted to call Ino-chan but," she frowned. "I don't have her number memorized,"

Her stomach clenched at the idea of her phone being in the hands of Sasuke Uchiha of all people. Would they try to return it to her? She could only imagine the horror that would unfold if one of them tried to come to her school to give her phone back. Her Senju school uniform was easily recognizable and it was forbidden for Senju girls to date openly. The girls would crucify her if their coveted Sasuke-kun tried to talk to her in public. She grimly recalled his fanclub's slogan: _Sasuke-kun belongs to everyone. _

Though considering they were a gang, it was more likely that they would sell her phone for a gun or something.

It had been such a strange encounter, like the story of the girl who had fallen into a rabbit hole. Except she'd been kidnapped. But that strange story had ended. There was no way she was going to join a gang. She had common sense!


	5. In the event of a bike theft

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto! **

Hinata had a pickled radish halfway to her mouth when her father said, "I was told that you lost your cellphone yesterday,"

She blinked across the table, mouth open.

Hanabi looked up with interest in her usually impassive face at this development. Breakfast was traditionally a silent affair. Any drama related to her eldest and only sister was kept exclusively to disparaging evaluations of Hinata's performance at whatever it was that had father dearest bristling at the time.

Something about his tone, however, suggested that this was not simply an instance of Hinata's clumsiness.

Hinata lowered her chopsticks and said, "I lost it during after school activities,"

"Hm," Hiashi Hyuuga raised a brow, white eyes sharp. "Kendo?"

_Gang initiation, Father. _

"C-Cooking,"

His expression soured, mouth in a thin white line. "Your sister is captain of the martial arts team,"

Hanabi returned her attention to her breakfast and poked at her fish.

"This the first time I'm hearing this," Hinata looked at her sister and smiled. "Congratulations,"

Hiashi slammed down his newspaper. "You are wasting your time at that school if you don't take advantage of the athletics department. Senju has the best kendo team in the entire Land of Fire. I expect you to join," He released a tight, controlled breath. "God forbid I expect anything more from you,"

She bowed her head. Hiashi checked his watch and dismissed her with, "It is time for you and Neji to go."

Hinata nodded and said her goodbyes to her father and sister. She grabbed her bag and her coat. It was chilly that morning, so she had her her scarf pulled up to her nose. Neji was waiting for her, leaning against the car.

"Good morning," Neji opened the door for her and got in himself. He scrutinized her face and frowned. "Did Hiashi-sama speak to you?"

She tugged at her scarf. "Yes."

The silence was heavy. Neji wanted to say something, something along the lines of "Hiashi-sama means well" and "He wants the best for you," but she had heard it before and it moved her as little as it did the first time she heard it.

Sunlight beamed through the clouds and made her squint. Ino was waiting at the school gates.

Hinata smiled as she approached. "Good morning, Ino-chan,"

Ino sucked in her cheeks. "Don't make puppy eyes at me, girl," She stepped off the wall, long blonde ponytail swinging. "You didn't answer any of my texts or calls. I was worried that your 'club' stole your organs and sold them on the black market,"

Hinata laughed. "You and Neji-nii jump to the worst conclusions,"

_It's not completely unfounded, however. _

Ino huffed and started stomping towards the front entrance, Hinata matching her step. "What happened to your phone?"

"I lost it," she admitted, poking her fingers together.

"So how was it?"

"How was what?"

"The club,"

"Ino-chan,"

"What?"

"It – It really was a gang."

lll

"That's weird,"

_Thud. _

White-blonde ponytail swishing, Ino chucked a bag of confectioner's sugar into the shopping cart. "I figured you got your sweet tooth from your mom,"

Ino absentmindedly read the label off of a box of candy and threw it in with the rest of their shopping.

Hinata cradled the eggs in her arms. They were too fragile for Ino's aggressive shopping.

Ino's expression darkened.

_ Thud._

In went the heavy cream.

"He's so mean. I wouldn't do crap for my dad if he made me ride my bike to school because he thought I was fat or whatever,"

Hinata shivered from the icy wisps coming from the freezer section. "It's for getting stronger,"

"Getting stronger my great-grandmother's foot,"

"I-It's his birthday," she said. "I always try to give him something,"

"Yeah?" Ino scrunched her nose at Hinata. "What'd he get you for your birthday?"

Hinata faltered.

"...My bike,"

"Interesting."

Hinata pursed her lips, etching characters into the egg carton with her nail as Ino considered the cake decorations.

"Hyuuga Hiashi. Leader of the Hyuuga Clan. Likes yellow sponge cake with strawberries and cream," Ino huffed a laugh. "Your dad is weird,"

Said daughter of the Hyuuga leader and secret sweet tooth pouted and hugged the egg carton defensively. "Your dad wears a ponytail,"

"Your dad has longer and prettier hair than most of the women in Konoha,"

"W-Was that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?"

The girls snapped to attention at the sound of a crash.

Ino raised a brow. "Which idiot knocked down all the ramen?"

Hinata blinked owlishly at the knocked-over ramen display and the head of blonde spikes poking out of the pile.

"Is that Naruto-kun?"

Ino looked at her in disbelief. "You know him?"

Hinata bent down and pushed some of the instant food boxes away. Bleary blue eyes peered up at her.

"Hinata-chan?" He sat up and rubbed his head. "It is you. Hi!"

"Hello. A-Are you okay?"

He gave her a thoughtful look. "You know, I had a dream like this once. Except I was the one who dived into a pile of ramen instead of the other way around,"

Ino stared blankly at him. Naruto stood up, dusted himself off, and scooped up an armful of ramen.

"You eat like a bachelor," Ino said, eyeing him with distaste.

He laughed. "I guess I do! I live alone, believe it!"

"Well, nice meeting you and all," Ino looped an arm around Hinata's shoulders and started walking away. "Hinata and I have to go,"

"Sure, nice meeting you too," His eyes brightened as a thought came to his head. "Hey, Hinata, we're having a picnic for _hanami_ today. I couldn't get a hold of you so it's short notice. Wanna go?"

"Ten items or less. Hustle, Hina!"

"Okay, okay, wait, Ino-chan-!"

"Okay? I'll take that as a yes then!" Naruto called as Ino dragged her away.

"W-Wait!"

Ino had their items checked out with the kind of speed Hinata wished her friend had when she was getting ready.

Hinata piled her groceries onto her bike basket and walked with it besides Ino. She pouted. "R-Rude, Ino-chan!"

Ino rolled her eyes. She took a deep breath and said, "Hinata,"

"What?"

"You never specified _which _gang you got yourself involved in,"

"Why does that matter?"

"It matters because motherfucking Uzumaki Naruto-"

"L-Language!"

"-is in the freaking Rookies with that lazy idiot Shikamaru, that fat idiot Chouji, caterpillar brows Lee, dog-boy Kiba, bug-boy Shino, and Sasuke-kun!"

Hinata stared back in bewilderment.

Ino exhaled slowly, smoothing the wrinkle between her brows. "Hinata, if I'm not mistaken, what you're telling me is that you were taken to Sasuke-kun's house, escaped from Sasuke-kun's house, and just now, you were invited to a picnic with them,"

"...You mentioned Sasuke an awful lot,"

"I don't like him if that's what you're thinking. I used to, but then again, everyone did. Did you know that creep sent _Chouji _when I told him I wanted to confess to him? No thanks! Of all the fish in the sea, he's just a single-celled protozoan. He's _pond scum. _And you know what else? That stupid idiot forehead girl didn't want us to be friends anymore because she thought we were love rivals for him. Can you believe it? She ditched _me_ for that protozoan! Me, Yamanaka Ino! "And when she finally went to confess, he sent Naruto! Anyway," she said, brushing her fingers through her hair agitatedly. "I'm worried because if anyone from our school catches you hanging around boys – especially Sasuke-kun – then they'll probably report you just out of spite. You might get suspended for it,"

Hinata blanched. "I-I didn't agree to go, though! Also, I didn't know he did that to you. That's awful,"

Ino waved her hand flippantly. "I got over it. I was like twelve or whatever. But please be careful. I'm not your mother so if you do join them for whatever reason, I'll back you up," Ino said. "I am your friend so I got your back when things go tits-up. It shouldn't be too hard to spike the principal's thermos if you do get in trouble. I'm pretty sure it isn't coffee she's always drinking."

The girls giggled at that. They started when they heard a loud clang of metal from the alleyway behind them. They exchanged looks.

Ino gave a forced smile. "Maybe it's just a stray cat or something,"

A trail of red snaked across the ground and there was _thud _that sounded an awful lot like a body falling.

"What a violent cat," Hinata murmured.

Muffled screaming.

"...I'm sure it's just the wind,"

Hinata tightened her hold on her bike, pulse throbbing with fear. "W-Why does the wind sound like it's getting beat up?"

"Help!"

"Oh, fine, let's just take a peek," Ino said.

The girls looked at each other nervously as they approached the alley. The street suddenly seemed empty and eerily quiet.

When they peered in the alleyway, they saw two teenagers, a boy and girl, and a middle-aged man sprawled on the ground, holding his arm.

"P-Please, my business hasn't been going well so the profit – I have three children, a-a family - give me more time, please, I beg of you,"

The boy pressed his boot down harder on the man's ribs, pinning him down.

The girl shrugged, a metal baseball bat leaning against her shoulder. She said slowly in way of explanation, "Your job is to give us a share. Our job is to collect. I thought that was simple enough to understand,"

The girl opened up his wallet and held a picture between her fingers. She studied it and showed it to the boy.

The man hissed and struggled under the boy's foot. "No, that's-"

"I'm sure your cute daughter wouldn't mind helping out her daddy. She's in junior high, right? The younger they are, the higher the price," She swung the bat lazily. "Sickos will pay more than you can dream of making just to play with her,"

The man looked at her in horror. "No, no-"

The girl brought the metal baseball bat down on the man's leg.

The sickening crunch and smothered scream was the last thing they heard before hands covered their mouths.

"Relax, it's me," A familiar voice said. "Listen, you two need to leave. Quietly. I'll handle this,"

Hinata turned and met blue eyes with her own startled ones. "Naruto-kun?"

Ino had wrestled out of his grip, panting. "What the hell is going on?"

His usual carefree smile was gone and in its place was a grave frown."Like I said, I need to handle this. You guys need to get out of here,"

The girls nodded and walked a few steps until he disappeared into the alleyway. They glanced at each other sideways.

"He might need back-up if things go south," Ino whispered. "I'm ready to call the police if need be,"

Hinata nodded. They crept back to see the action.

"If you want to help your friend here," At the word "friend," the boy stepped down harder on the man's ribs. "Then I'll harvest your organs. The younger they are, the better they sell. Deal?"

The blond's back was to them, his shoulders and back muscles tensed.

"You think he can take this?" Ino held her cellphone nervously to her lip.

Hinata eyed the blood glinting off the surface of the bat and gulped.

"He doesn't even have a weapon. I bet you two strawberry crepes that he'll lose,"

"I can't believe you're making bets at a time like this," Hinata scolded. She paused."M-Make that two banana crepes with extra chocolate syrup and whipped cream,"

Naruto laughed a short, humorless laugh. "I can think of other ways to help,"

"Just try it, then," she said, tossing her hair back. "I can only see this ending with your sorry ass waking up with both your kidneys missing,"

The boy joined the girl, leaving the man sprawled on the ground and coughing up blood. Upon further inspection and better lighting, it looked like the boy and girl were twins.

In a flash, the blond swept his foot under the girl's, making her fall , just as her brother whipped out a knife and aimed for Naruto's throat. He rolled out of the way, the knife catching his shirt, and grabbed the girl's bat. In one smooth motion, he slammed it against the boy's wrist.

The switchblade skittered across, a bit too close to where the girls were spying. They both sucked in a breath.

The boy screamed, holding his limp wrist. The girl growled and produced her own knife, swiping it at Naruto's chest. He grinned and swung the bat, hard. The delicate bones of her hand crunched at the impact. She shrieked, holding her broken hand. "Get him!"

The boy grunted and threw a punch. Naruto dodged it and threw a punch at his nose. Blood gushed out the boy's nose. He gurgled as he cried out. The girl reached for the bat. They tugged the bat between them, though from Naruto's grinning profile, it was clear he was toying with the girl. There was something feralabout him, his canines more pronounced and his smile more of a sneer. Then he brought his elbow across her face with brutal force.

The two teens were lying on the ground with bloody faces and broken bones.

"Heh, now you two really match," He tapped the bloodied bat on the ground. "You kids seem to be lost. This is Rookie territory. I'd be more than happy to kick your asses back to the desert. Maybe we can ride a magic carpet there,"

"Fuck you," the girl spat, choking on the blood in her mouth.

"You still got cute things to say even with a busted face, huh? I like your spirit," Naruto looked over his shoulder at the man sitting up against the wall. "You might wanna beat it, old man,"

With a shaky nod, he stood and limped out. He seemed to completely ignore the two girls pressed against the wall as he hurried away. Hinata clamped a hand over her mouth at the blood in his mouth and the limpness of his arm and leg.

The girls were frozen in horror until they heard footsteps.

Ino grabbed Hinata's elbow and then they were running home, frantic and shaking from head to toe.

lll

Hinata wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "You preheated the oven, right?"

"Yeah," Ino swiveled on the kitchen stool and snickered at the flour on Hinata's nose.

She wiped her face self-consciously. Ino opened the oven for Hinata to slide the cake pans in.

"Forty one, huh?" Ino tossed the numbered candle in her hands. "He looks good for his age," She smirked. "Must be nice to have Hyuuga genes,"

Hinata grimaced. "Talking about my father like that makes me uncomfortable,"

"Yeah, you and everyone else. It's gross watching the PTA moms fawning over my dad," Ino shuddered. "They go wild for any guy with more hair on their heads than their own baldy husbands,"

The girls took a moment to gag at that.

"Where's the heavy cream?" Hinata asked.

"It's still in the bag I think," She went to the dining room to check.

The Hyuuga smiled to herself. The Yamanaka home always had flowers throughout the house. Today there were vases filled with fragrant white jasmines. She adjusted the timer as she waited for Ino.

There was the rustling of plastic and a shuffle of feet. Then,

"Uh oh,"

"Hm?" Hinata walked over to her. "What is it?"

Ino handed the bag to Hinata.

She blanched.

"Oh no,"

"I'm sorry," Ino said. "I was taking my anger out while we were shopping and I broke it,"

Hinata bit her lip. "If you would watch the cake, I'll go back and buy another one,"

"Here," Ino handed her the money. "I got my eye on it," She furrowed her brows and looked Hinata square in the eye. "Be careful."

They hadn't spoken about it at all.

Hinata had felt the heavy weight of her bike and groceries after they had stopped running and were trying to catch their breaths.

She wanted to say something about it. She was disturbed. Violence from the safety of the other side of the screen allowed a certain detachment, but violence only a few steps away, where she could easily catch some blood splatters on her face, where she could hear the crunch of breaking bones and the cries of pain had no such mercy against her psyche.

Afterward, Ino had just smiled and halfheartedly complained about an annoying assignment due that week. Hinata lost her nerve. She could tell from the blonde's higher-pitched voice and the way she was gesturing more with her hands that her nerves were just as frazzled. As brave as Ino was, the situation wasn't one where Ino could stand up to the school yard bullies with a few sharp and well-deserved words and her hands on her hips.

The sun was slipping, gilding the clouds and placing mysterious shadows on the cherry blossom trees as Hinata rode to the store.

_"Wanna go?" _

The last time she went to a cherry-blossom picnic had been when she was young, probably seven.

Knee-deep in the grass, admiring the flowers and the enjoying the sunlight was where a wasp found and stung her. All she could remember after that was the pain and the crying and a frantic Neji carrying her to the hospital. They hadn't known that she was allergic. What remained of that memory was a scar below her ear, on her neck, where there had been a particularly nasty hive. Hiashi was reluctant to have her participate in any more outdoors activities after that.

She entertained the idea of going to the Rookie's _hanami_ picnic. It made her laugh to think of gang members sitting around admiring cherry blossoms. Naruto making bad jokes, Lee singing, Kiba mocking Naruto, Shino sitting by himself, Chouji eating, Shikamaru dozing, and Sasuke plotting her violent death.

Naruto, smiling, happy-go-lucky Naruto, breaking bones and smashing faces. Her humor vanished. They were a gang after all. The ease with which he threw his punches and that awful look on his face – it was like a switch, from goofball to fighter. Not to mention the Uchiha who had snakes for home security. That couldn't be legal. She stopped for a moment and rolled her stiff shoulders.

"H-Hey!"

She didn't have the chance to get a good look of his face when a boy knocked her off of her bike and took off with it.

Hinata hissed at her scraped hands and knees, but went right after him. He had some nerve! She ran after him, pushing past people on the streets and shouting apologies.

The boy's head bobbed in and out of view, but her father was on to something about biking making her physically stronger. Even Hinata was surprised by her stamina.

The crowd was starting to thicken. She stumbled over a baby stroller and when she finished apologizing, the boy, and more importantly, her bike, was gone.

"Hinata!"

A hand landed on her shoulder. Her hackles fell only when she saw who the voice belonged to.

"Kiba-kun?"

"Damn, I lost him," Kiba hissed, running a hand through his hair irritably.

"M-Maybe we should get out of the way," she said over the crowd. That was one too many elbows to the head that she could deal with.

Kiba nodded and led her out by elbowing through. When she could finally breathe, she asked, "You were chasing him too?"

His hands were behind his head."He's a spy,"

"A...spy?"

Kiba paused and, as if deliberating something in his head and reaching a decision, shrugged. "We're doing a job. He was trying to interfere. I was trying to stop him,"

He was being vague, she could tell that much.

_"Job" sounds like something yakuza-esque. _

After Naruto's little demonstration, she couldn't help her cynicism. Hinata stopped when she couldn't recognize her surroundings.

"Where are we? It's like a ghost town," She rubbed her arms, darting her eyes about.

All of the buildings were old and dilapidated, full of broken windows with nothing inside but darkness as far as the eye could see. The place was overgrown with nature reclaiming her territory, clashing with the industrial landscape. She jumped when a stray cat flashed by her leg.

"Spooky, eh?" Kiba laughed at her pale face. "Don't worry Hinata-chan, the ghosts don't like cute schoolgirls like you. They like older women,"

He cackled at his own off-color humor. Hinata quietly stepped over a tree root that had split the cement as if the was devil clawing his way up from hell.

"This neighborhood is probably one of the only ones in Japan that hasn't seen the light of development," he said.

Her brain was finally catching up after all of the excitement. This was not supposed to be happening. The plan was to buy the heavy cream and head back. No stolen bikes, no spies, and no gang members.

"Where are we going?"

"We're getting your bike back," Kiba said with a wink.

"But we're going in the wrong direction,"

"We're reporting your bike then. I figure we might as well return your cellphone since you're here. You dropped it when you made your great escape,"

She averted her gaze at that.

Kiba smiled. "Don't be embarrassed. No one with a fully functional brain wants to be around Sasuke. And that's why Naruto is his best friend," he said. "But dang, you've been losing your things left and right. Cute wallpaper by the way,"

Hinata blushed at the image of them looking at her cat-themed home screen. She hastily changed the subject.

"I-Is this a shortcut to the police station?"

"Sure, you can think of it that way if you want,"

She scrunched her nose. "What does that mean?"

Kiba hummed evasively.

She frowned. "Th-That sounds like Tetris,"

He quirked a brow, lips still puckered. "How about this?"

"Ode to Joy?"

"This?"

"Under the Sea,"

"And this?"

"The Pokemon theme song!"

"You're good,"

"Th-Thanks," she said, pleased. Though now she had forgotten why he had distracted her. "Um, about yesterday," Hinata fidgeted with her fingers. "Why did you kidnap me?"

She could still vividly remember the strange "Just Married" car rolling up and being shoved into it.

"Easier to do first, talk later. You wouldn't have come along quietly if some guy asked you to go somewhere with him,"

"Stranger danger," Hinata said quietly.

"Also," Kiba stretched his arms above his head. "We haven't taken out Jiraiya's car in a while. Hey there,"

Hinata gasped when a pretty white dog loped into view. The dog bee-lined for Kiba's knees.

"He's so cute," she gushed.

"Woof!"

"She appreciates the compliment," he laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. M-May I?" Hinata hovered her hand.

"Sure. Kami, meet Hinata. Hinata, this is Kami,"

"So fluffy," she cooed with her fingers plunged in soft white fur.

Kami nosed her palm and jumped, placing her paws up on Hinata's thighs. "Oh!"

"Down,"

Kiba held a dog treat.

She looked at him strangely. "You carry dog treats around?"

He stood up and puffed his chest proudly. "Of course. Inuzukas are always prepared,"

A light bulb went off in her head. "Ah, the Inuzuka kennels!"

He scoffed. "Took you long enough to figure that out,"

She smiled despite herself. Theirs was the most renowned dog kennel in the Lands.

"We found her wandering around here as a puppy," He patted Kami's head. "You can think of her as our unofficial mascot,"

Kami followed them as they continued onward. She nudged at Kiba's palms for more treats and walked off with a snort when he ignored her attempts.

The sudden silence found Hinata chewing the inside of her cheek. Sure they beat people up ruthlessly but Kiba could charm dogs like any fairytale princess worth her weight in pixie dust. And Naruto was helping that man, even if it was a terrifying way to do it.

No, no, no! They were getting to her! She shot him a sideways look. Maybe...maybe he had planned this. A conspiracy? Operation Group Girlfriend? Operation She Can't Fight but She Looks Good in a Skirt and Even Better in Ropes When A Rival Gang Kidnaps Her?

Maybe he knew she had a weakness for dogs and cats and other cute fluffy things. He probably thought all girls had the same weakness. He wasn't wrong in her case but to think he would exploit such a cute creature for such a villainous design! Well she was going to put him in place!

"Um, I have another question,"

"Shoot,"

"Why did you try...recruiting me?"

Kiba grinned, though his shifting eyes betrayed his discomfort. "What do you mean?"

Hinata looked at her shoes. "Y-You just wanted a group girlfriend,"

Her accusation was soft but the impact was harsh.

"Our intentions were not pure,"

"Holy shit, Shino," Kiba clutched his chest, glaring at the bespectacled boy.

"Aburame Shino," Shino corrected. "It is about time you noticed," he said, sulking.

He took Hinata's other side and maintained his distance. "Hinata-san is not wrong. As long as it was an attractive female from Senju then she was welcome,"

Kiba scowled at him and tried to explain. "C'mon, it's a fucking sausage fest here and at school,"

"You could try getting a girlfriend," Shino muttered.

"Are you really doing this right now? Refresh my memory – which little four-eyes tried to give a girl a giant spider for Valentine's Day when we were in third grade?"

"The spider was not the gift. It was _carrying_ the gift,"

"Whatever, virgin."

Hinata felt more vindicated by his honesty rather than upset by it. All the more reason to cut ties with the bizarre bunch. She was simply going to get her phone and her bike back and then it would be over.

They arrived at an office building, otherwise plain and unassuming amongst the rest of the ruins. There were mossy walls and vines crawling in and around the building. The trio found themselves at glass double doors, cracked and smudged with fingerprints and grime. She was disturbed to see blood sticking to the door in blackish red spatters.

At Hinata's stunned silence, Kiba said, with a touch of pride, "This is our base,"

"I thought – I thought Uchiha-san's house was the base," Was that moreblood on the door handle she was seeing?

Kiba walked to the door and kicked it open. "This place is for work and his place is for play,"

"There's no security?" Hinata inspected the doorway suspiciously.

"There's a camera up there. The ass pirate is watching," He flipped off the camera whirring to life in a shadowy corner.

"U-Uchiha-san is here?"

"Aw, don't be so nervous," Kiba said as they took the elevator. Hinata noted that there were three floors with an accessible roof. "Sasuke gets used to things he hates pretty quickly. Unless he kills them first,"

Shino frowned. "You are further distressing Hinata-san,"

"It's okay, really! On his birthday, I got him a pair of sweatpants that said 'Blowjob Princess' on the butt and he only broke one arm for it!"

Suddenly, she felt it would be better to face her father about another lost possession than face the Uchiha.

They reached the top floor all too soon. Sunlight lit up the entire hallway from a giant wall-to-ceiling window. She would have enjoyed it if she didn't feel like all the blood in her body had froze.

Kiba knocked three times on the door and peered into the glass window.

He opened the door. Sitting at an L-shaped desk with a laptop and glasses was Sasuke. He raised his brows as he appraised them. Black eyes flickered to hers before settling on Kiba and Shino. His mouth twisted into a frown.

"I lost him,"

"Obviously. That's why you're here," Sasuke sighed and took off his rather stylish red-framed glasses.

He shot her an icy stare."Catch,"

If Neji hadn't practiced chucking mandarin slices at her to hone her reflexes, her phone would be a shattered mess and her nose would be busted.

"Th-Thank you," Her hands were still trembling after she pocketed her phone and folded her hands in front of her.

"Now leave," he said.

She would have if Kiba hadn't said, "She still has business with us,"

"Yes, I'm sure Hyuuga Hiashi would be pleased to know that you're still here," His smile was sharp. "I want to see Neji's face when I tell him that his innocent little cousin left her phone at my house,"

"Her bike, man," Kiba said impatiently. "That piece of shit ran away with it,"

Sasuke put his glasses back on and looked at the laptop screen. "Ah, a Fuji Urban series Feather bike in 'Satin Slate'. You didn't like the color so you painted some of it with nail polish. 'Perky Plum,' was it?"

He lifted his eyes and laughed a short, harsh laugh. "A gift from your father after you lost in the academy's kendo tournament in the first round last year,"

Her throat tightened, eyes burning hot. "How do you-"

He laced his fingers under his chin, black eyes gleaming. "I don't allow anyone into my territory without knowing them. Especially a Hyuuga,"

"You - You invaded my privacy,"

"You did it first,"

Her throat closed up for a moment. Her heart pumped furiously. The heat in her face was for once not from embarrassment but anger.

His gaze stayed on her, studying her in the same calculative and discomfiting way he'd done the first time he'd laid eyes on her.

"Naruto is on scouting duty. With any luck, Hinata," he drawled, staring at her once again with unpleasant glint in his eye. "he should be able to catch him, even if the dobe is ninety percent brain-dead,"

"Then please excuse me," she said through gritted teeth. Hinata was out in the sunlit hallway and finally away from that – that -

"A-Ass pirate," she hissed, recalling Kiba's words.

She ruffled her bangs irritably. She found herself in front of the big window at the end of the hall. Today was all blue skies and balmy breezes. The scent of freshly cut grass and flowers gentled her clenched fists and the crease between her brows.

Hinata placed her hands on the window sill, absently enjoying the pretty view and the breeze. It would feel less empty if there were some potted plants. Interior designer she was not, but she could imagine that plants could photosynthesize to their heart's content here, in the bountiful sunshine.

If only the place didn't belong to an ill-mannered, snake-trigger-happy, dead-behind-the-eyes stalker freak who had a better sense of style than her. Even she didn't know the exact model of her bike or that its awful color was "satin slate." And he'd even known the shade of her nail polish. She exhaled loudly and went towards the elevator. Hopefully the supermarket wouldn't be closed by the time she walked back.

lll

"Yo, welcome back,"

Ino greeted her from the kitchen stool with a magazine and a cup of tea.

"There was ah, a heavy cream shortage," Hinata took off her shoes. "The cows, you know, they're harvesting their own methane gas and using it as a biological weapon against us. O-Oh, and the line was pretty long too,"

"Hm. And did the cows cut up your hands like that?"

"They are d-dastardly cows,"

"Hinata," Ino huffed and closed the magazine. "You know where the band-aids are. Patch yourself up,"

The Hyuuga sheepishly shuffled over to get the first-aid kit.

"Your bike is missing too," Ino said. She was looking out the window and turned to Hinata. Her eyes widened in realization. "Did someone steal your bike?"

Hinata ducked her head. "Yes,"

"Motherfucker!"

"L-Language, Ino-chan!"

"So something bad did happen," She sat down on the couch where Hinata joined her. "Is it because they know you've been involved with a gang and targeted you on purpose?"

"I don't think so," Hinata said, sticking on the last Pikachu band-aid. "He was being chased," _by a gang member. _

"Well, you came back in one piece so let's go finish up that cake!"

Hinata felt equal parts relieved and guilty. She hadn't lied. She just hadn't told the entire truth.

"Ne, when are your parents getting back?"

"Next week. Which means I'm stuck at the shop all weekend," The blonde stretched her arms out dramatically. "A babe like me should be out making trouble, not trimming petunias,"

"I'm free this weekend, s-so I can help keep you company if you want."

White lie or not, it was the first time she'd lied to her best friend. Flower shop redemption was in order.

lll

Hinata rolled her neck, satisfied by the cracks. The cake had reached the mini fridge in her father's office safely and her homework was finally finished!

She got off her purple office chair and jumped around to get her blood going. It was still light out when she looked out her bedroom window. A thought crossed her mind.

"Common sense, Hinata," She hit her head against the glass. "Ow,"

Common sense said to go eat dinner and hop into bed. Nonsense said to sneak out to check out the _hanami_ picnic. She was curious and she was bored. Idle hands are the devil's play things indeed, she thought as she hit her forehead again. Especially when those hands belonged to a girl whose curfew was "get home before sunset" and whose father was as authoritarian as Hyuuga Hiashi. She never got to do anything after school in junior high because Neji picked her up every day and her father kept her occupied at home with a tutor and kendo instructor.

This was her taste of danger and rebellion and it was as bad for her as it was addictive. She wanted to know what Naruto had done to those twins. She wanted to know which face he would greet her with, if she could look at any of them the same again if she had saw them hurt someone. She wanted to know what face Sasuke would make if he knew how much she knew about _his_ family life, about his beloved big brother dropping out of high school to run away and join a gang only to return and become the CEO-in-training of the Uchiha's business, about his parents who lived in Hong Kong and rarely visited.

_Clink. _

Hinata started, quickly backing away from her window. Did someone throw a rock at her window? She crept slowly towards it to look one story down.

A familiar blond head was waving excitedly up at her.

"Wha..."

...along with three other familiar faces.

"H-How did you get in here?!"

"You and Sasuke have the same security system! Easy peasy!" Naruto explained brightly.

"Lemon squeezy," Kiba said. "Now c'mon down! Lee can only distract your guards for so long,"

"He is pretending to be Neji's amnesiac foreign lover," Shino said with a straight face.

"N-Neji-nii's wha - wait, I-I never said I was going,"

"But you said you were!"

"P-Please don't shout!"

"We'll catch you," The trio linked their hands together with a look of determination.

Hinata stared, lamenting the money wasted on a security system a group of sixteen year-old boys could outwit and her common sense. She spared one last look at them before grabbing her phone, wallet, and jacket.

She bit her lip and slid the window open. It wasn't a deep fall but it wouldn't leave her unscathed if she didn't have her man-made safety net waiting below her. Without hesitation, she jumped.


	6. In the event of a picnic PART I

Hinata's feet touched the wet grass below when the boys put her down. She cringed at her damp socks.

"Here," Shino presented her school loafers and set them down before her.

"H-How?" How had they bypassed the Hyuuga guards so easily?

"For once, his lack of presence was a good thing," Kiba said and good-naturedly threw an arm around Shino's shoulders.

Her heart was still beating hard after jumping out of her window. She trailed behind them as they led her to the backyard and into the garden.

"We aren't going through the main gate are we?" she said with a sinking feeling in her gut.

"We're hopping the fence around your garden,"

Hinata looked skeptically at the ornate spiked fence surrounding the garden. She peered through the bars and her jaw dropped.

"_Oui_, _Monsieur_ Neji is the _maman_, grandfather, and uncle of my unborn children!"

Lee was wearing a blonde wig, a dress, and a pillow under his dress that he stroked lovingly like an expecting mother. He had his finger pointed in the Hyuuga guard's bewildered face as he screamed, "Do you _le_ understand, _Monsieur_?"

"Lee's been into his TV dramas a little too much," Kiba explained.

"W-Why is he French...?"

"Just go with it," Naruto said cheerfully as he climbed up the fence and easily hopped over the spikes.

Kiba followed suit. Shino knelt and boosted her up. Hinata yelped before finding foothold on a horizontal bar. From there, she pulled her leg over and dropped. She clenched her jaw tightly to stop from screaming. Kiba caught her and set her down. Lastly, Shino hopped over.

Naruto whistled two sharp notes in Lee's direction. He looked at them and said, "Now book it!"

They ran until they reached the last block of the residential area. Her heart and adrenaline were going at breakneck speed in her body when they finally stopped.

Naruto bounced on his toes excitedly and asked, "How about some ramen before we go?"

"We had that last week," Kiba grumbled, leaning against a streetlight.

"We had Korean barbeque last week," Shino corrected.

"And before that week we had fucking ramen. How are you even alive, man? Isn't your blood pressure higher than a Super Saiyan's?"

The blond crossed his arms. "I'm perfectly healthy! How about you, Hinata?"

"M-My health is fine,"

Kiba chuckled. "Good to hear but we were asking about what you wanted to eat,"

She blushed. "Oh. I-I'm not picky,"

"Spend enough time with us and you'll get sick of ramen and meat before you know it,"

She stared at her shoes. "Um, then I-I like sweets,"

The bespectacled boy made a thoughtful sound. "How about dango then?"

Kiba's eyes lit up. "Hanami dango! That settles it,"

Hinata smiled in agreement, thinking that the pink, white, and green hanami dango were perfect for the occasion.

"Wait for me,_ s'il vous plait_!"

Lee ran to them with his blonde wig flailing behind him. His pillow baby was spilling out from his shirt. He readjusted it fondly it when he reached them.

Hinata stared at Lee in horror. She hoped that Neji would never hear of this.

"Greetings, sister! You look different,"

She had been lounging around in her home clothes; a worn gray slip dress with a sweater over it. It was strange to be out of uniform, now that he had pointed it out.

She was still staring. "I-I could say the same for you,"

Kiba looked between the bowlcut and the Hyuuga. "Civilian clothes and drag. Nice."

The sun was setting and the sky was dimming to a soft periwinkle with gold streaks. Chinese lanterns lit the storefronts as the party walked through the streets of Konoha.

Despite the nice atmosphere, Hinata was on edge. She looked to Shino, who was walking next to her.

"Um, Shino-kun?"

"What is it?"

"I-Is Uchiha-san going to join us?"

"I believe so," he said. He paused, then said, "I imagine you were angered by his words and actions today,"

Angered, grossed out, amongst other things. She nodded. "How did he know all of that?"

Shino kept his face forward, the lights bouncing off of his shades. "Sasuke was once the informant of Orochimaru,"

Hinata raised her fingers to her lip, pearly eyes wide. "The yakuza? H-He worked for the yakuza?"

And _that _yakuza boss of all people? Her stomach shifted and tightened. There were rumors about Orochimaru's...preoccupation with young boys. Goosebumps prickled her skin.

He gave her a solemn nod. "That was back when his brother first left, at the beginning of junior high school if I remember correctly. He has evidently kept his habit of collecting information."

Two could play at that game even if he did have more experience.

Hinata didn't like to think of herself as a spiteful or vengeful person. She was the first to admit that her heart was as soft and gooey and teeth-rottingly sweet as a marshmallow. It didn't hold grudges and it forgave too easily at times. Stray cats could scratch and hiss all they liked but Hinata wouldn't leave them alone until they got their cans of tuna. Neji could treat her the way he did back when his father had to leave the country indefinitely on a diplomatic mission because of her but Hinata had still welcomed back the sweet and doting Neji-nii from her childhood once he overcame his hatred for her.

However, she could not let go of the feeling of being wronged by Sasuke. She had the unfamiliar and overwhelming need to put him in his place.

The cats and Neji had their reasons for lashing out. They were easy to forgive because Hinata cared about them and understood them. Who was this virtual stranger to speak to her in such a disrespectful way? A voice in her head that sounded startlingly like her father's said that no Uchiha would get away with humiliating a Hyuuga.

If he wanted to throw around personal information like that...well, it wasn't like she lacked her own sources.

"How awful to see you useless bottom-feeding rugrats again," The dango shop's owner said with a sparkling smile. She noticed Hinata and said, "Did you finally dump your boyfriend Naruto?"

"What are you talking about? Me and Sasuke will be together forever and ever!"

Kiba placed their order while they found a table. Hinata sipped her green tea as she watched Shikamaru and Chouji slouch their way in.

"Yo," Shikamaru said and sat down. He was carrying a bag with him, which he set down under the table. "I found one,"

Lee looked excited (moreso than usual) about the content of the bag. "Much appreciated!"

"What is that?" she asked, peering into the bag.

"Karaoke machine," Shikamaru answered, muttering his thanks when a waitress slid him a cup of tea.

"I thought you said you didn't have one," Naruto said.

"I borrowed it from Ino,"

"Y-You know Ino-chan?"

Thin eyes shifted to her."I'm guessing you know her too,"

Hinata beamed. She now felt that she shared a strong sense of kinship with the lazy boy. "Isn't she great? She kicks butt in kendo and she's always understanding and patient with me a-and she always helps me and she has pretty hair and I don't deserve her at all but she still wants be my friend. She's the c-coolest!"

"I hear enough about how great she is from herself," Shikamaru said sourly.

"You're only Ino's second biggest fan girl," Chouji said, delicately folding his napkin.

Hinata's face fell. "W-Who's number one?"

"Ino,"

She blushed with indignation. "R-Rude."

Their dango arrived and Naruto and Kiba came with it. The exasperated waitress dragged them back to their table by the ears.

"He's my bestie. I can't believe she thinks he has stupid hair!"

Kiba glared. "I coulda got her number if you hadn't started arguing with her grandma. Cockblock,"

"He spends an hour blowdrying it, you know. That's devotion."

When they left, she saw an indigo sky outlining the cherry blossom trees, and the glow from the stars and the moon making the soft pink petals look translucent. Hinata marveled at the nighttime scenery, something she missed due to her tight curfew of "Come home before sunset or else Neji will find you."

Hinata heard the roar of an engine before she saw a black blur zoom across the road. It came to a stop at the park entrance. Before the figure could take off his helmet, Naruto launched at him and swung around his neck like a particularly annoying human necklace.

"Gimme some sugar, you bastard!"

Kiba coughed. "Gay,"

Naruto stuck his tongue out."You wish!"

Sasuke ignored his best friend's puckered lips and clingy-ness, and calmly removed his helmet. He shook his hair out as the blond shifted to having one arm around the Uchiha's shoulder. She felt his dark eyes on her and pointedly focused on Naruto's mischievous fox-like face.

The Rookies leader silently started walking into the park. They followed his lead, though Hinata was dragging her feet. She thought he wouldn't be interested in anything involving fun, so she had bet on his absence despite Shino telling her otherwise. The sights were very pretty, at least. She quietly "ooh"-ed and "ah"-ed, much to Kiba and Shino's amusement. She found herself naturally falling into step between the two boys. Strange how just yesterday, Shino freaked her out to the point of making her faint. She was beginning to see he was thoughtful rather than creepy.

She looked over with a smile and saw him muttering to his sleeve.

No, he was still creepy. But nice.

_"__Our intentions were not pure."_

Maybe, but maybe she was using them too.

Her ears perked up when she heard someone humming a tune.

"That's...Britney Spears?"

Kiba frowned. "Damn it,"

"I only recognize classical music," Shino admitted.

"You would," Kiba muttered.

She chuckled at their banter. Her attention wandered to the lone Uchiha leading the pack with his hands in his pockets. His white dress shirt was still neat and tucked in, though it was rolled up at the sleeves. The muscles in his forearms tensed under silvery pale skin. She averted her gaze.

"Here we are," Naruto said, spreading his arms out grandly.

Warm golden light from the lamps hanging on the string of lights strewn over the circle of trees brightened the clearing.

Then the boys started pulling their blazers off.

She stared red-faced and scandalized. "W-Why are you stripping?"

"No blanket," Kiba said, tossing his blazer onto the grass and flopping down.

"Sister, please sit with me,"

"I wanna sit next to Hinata-chan!" Naruto pouted.

Kiba sniffed the fussy blond's blazer and cringed in disgust. "You still have ramen broth on it from two weeks ago,"

"That was an accident,"

"You're an accident,"

Chouji arrived with an armful of sodas. Shikamaru considered them and said, "I think we can reach a decision here, fair and square,"

Naruto scrunched his brows. "How's that?"

He grabbed a soda can. "Drink the entire thing and whoever burps first loses,"

"Hella!"

Lee looked crestfallen. "But I have acid reflux,"

"You'll live," Shikamaru said dryly. "Bottoms up,"

Hinata sat on her heels and watched. They sat with their legs crossed in a circle. She watched in fascination as they cracked their soda open and started drinking. They were so...sloppy. She had only ever seen her father and Neji dining with exemplary manners and grace afforded by a cultured Hyuuga upbringing.

They wiped off their mouths with their sleeves.

Her inner Hyuuga was offended.

The only one drinking in a familiarly elegant manner was Sasuke.

Hinata narrowed her eyes.

There was something wrong about that observation.

She would rather sit next to Principal Senju with alcohol withdrawal than sit next to him.

Shikamaru kept watch while Chouji started on his next soda, seemingly uninterested in competing.

She covered her giggles with her hand at the sight of Naruto and Lee's puffed red cheeks as they suppressed the gas from the carbonated beverages.

Kiba had his eyes closed, eyebrow twitching.

Shino sat calmly.

Sasuke drove his elbow into Naruto's stomach.

"Man down," Naruto gasped. "I threw up a little," he added miserably.

Lee whooped at his rival's defeat and promptly burped.

Kiba burst out laughing and lost.

Shino gave her a sympathetic look before shyly covering his mouth.

Hinata sighed. The look on Sasuke's face assured her that he wasn't interested in being chummy with her.

"Let's go," he said abruptly, looking off into the distance aloofly. When she sat there and looked at him, he snapped, "I want snacks,"

"I'm going with," Chouji said. He dusted off his shorts and scowled. "You never get the type of chips I want,"

Sasuke kicked Naruto's side. "Move your ass, dobe,"

He squinted blue eyes up at him, harassed. "Why the hell do I have to go?"

"Because it's my treat and you like to fill your trash body with processed garbage,"

Naruto nodded and stood. "I hate you but you're right,"

With that, the quartet headed off to the convenience store.

Chouji walked ahead of the party, taking up most of the sidewalk, which left Naruto squished between Sasuke and Hinata. She smiled at Naruto in apology when she bumped arms with his, but he good-naturedly brushed it off. Sasuke, however, glared like she'd murdered his family, set his house on fire, and kicked his dog when she brushed against him.

If this was the most popular boy in Konoha, then likely his entire fanbase collectively had extensive and irreparable brain damage and daddy issues. Though when it came to daddy issues, she thought grimly, she wasn't one to talk.

Luckily, the uncomfortable situation resolved itself when they reached the convenience store. Naturally, she gravitated to the packages of baked sweets.

"Hello," she cooed happily at a cinnamon bun, with its frosting smeared to the inside of the plastic package. "I shall call you Bun Bun and you will go into my digestive system."

She looked over to where Naruto was arguing with a sleepy-looking college student over the right to microwave five bowls of ramen. Chouji was eating a bag of chips in one hand and had a plastic bag full of chips hanging from the other. She sighed, feeling strange at seeing them being so normal. She wanted to see the bad, the violence, everything that should push her away from her sick fascination with them. Her conviction that she didn't want to be the group girlfriend and that she wasn't that desperately lonely that this was the best she could do were faltering at best.

Suddenly, someone snatched her cinnamon bun away.

"Ah, Bun Bun!"

"This is just sugar and fat," Sasuke looked down at her with a frown. "There are healthier ways to eat your feelings,"

Hinata flushed angrily and tried to grab it back. Predictably, he raised his arm and smirked at her struggle.

"B-Bully!"

"Yeah," he agreed. "What are you going to do about it?"

She stopped and smartly said, "Buy another one,"

His frown deepened.

"You shall be Bun Bun II," she murmured solemnly to the cinnamon bun she clutched to her chest. She boldly lifted her gaze to his and said, "I-I liked it better when you were trying to get rid of me,"

"I am still trying. This method is more entertaining for me," He juggled Bun Bun and Bun Bun II.

Hinata gnawed her lip irritably as she grabbed another one. "Bun Bun III,"

And then he was juggling three cinnamon buns. She was admittedly a bit impressed. Shaking her head and narrowing pearly white Hyuuga eyes at him, she said, "I-I know things about you too,"

"Hm. Did Kiba tell you about the jellyfish incident? He's lying, you know,"

"Jellyfish...? N-No, not that," She made a mental note to ask about that.

His eyes were half-lidded and his face impassive as he raised a brow inquisitively.

A shark. Or a reptile. That's what his eyes reminded her of. He had mean, cold, eyes like something cold-blooded.

"J-Just that you're lactose intolerant," she mumbled, intimidated.

Sasuke snorted. "Cute, if you were aiming at giving me the shits,"

Hinata opened her mouth (to retort or to gape like fish, she was unsure of) just as Naruto and Chouji approached them. She moved a few steps away from Sasuke, her face growing hot at not noticing how close they were standing. She didn't want to give anyone any ideas. Naruto bounced up to Sasuke and beamed.

"Wow, are you having a civil conversation with Hinata-chan? Good for you, teme,"

"Eat a dick, dobe," he muttered.

"I'm forgetting something," Naruto declared. He scrunched his nose and whiskered marks, balancing his stacked bowls of steaming hot ramen in one hand.

He caught sight of someone and grinned. "I'll be back in a jiffy!"

Hinata spotted Naruto talking to a man with long gray hair and a deep gravelly voice, then, "Thanks, perv!"

Naruto had a bag and a gleam in his eye that promised trouble.

llllll

"About time," Kiba grumbled.

They were sitting in a circle with a fire going. Shikamaru and Lee were conked out.

"What happened to Lee-kun?" Hinata said, poking the sleeping boy's arm with the tip of her shoe.

"He took a nap, thank Buddha," Kiba ruffled his hair.

"I didn't think he got tired," she mumbled thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you woulda thought. Gee, you've got a hell of a sweet tooth," He said, grabbing a bag of sweet bread out of her shopping bag. "At least it's not fucking ramen,"

"Hey, fuck you! This is all for me!"

"Whatcha got there?" Kiba reached for the bag Naruto had tucked behind him.

"This is for later,"

"Oh. Oh shit, better not let Lee get into this,"

Shino materialized in front of her. "I don't mind sweets," he told her.

Hinata was still talking her heart down from having a heart attack from shock while Shino fished out a box of candy for himself.

"It's karaoke time! Lee will freak if he misses out. Wake up, bushy-brows!"

"Okay, everyone!" Naruto had wrestled the mike away from Lee, who had woken up fresh as a daisy and enthusiastic as ever. The blonde lifted a fist up and said, "This one is for Sasuke's mom!"

Hinata winced at the thump of Sasuke's shoe hitting Naruto square in the face.

"Idiot," Shikamaru said, rubbing his eyes after being woken up by the mike's volume.

"I trust none of you to wanted to hear him sing anyway," Sasuke said, elbow on his propped up knee.

"Lee's not any better," Kiba remarked, wincing when said boy whooped into the mike.

Lee and Naruto started fighting again. Kiba growled and got up. "Alright, break it up, ladies!"

Hinata hunched her shoulders. There was a cooler breeze now that it was well into the night. The stars were bright, the cherry blossoms were beautiful, the company was...

"WILL THE REAL SLIM SHADY PLEASE STAND UP?"

It was more exciting than doing homework, she supposed, taking a bite out of Bun Bun IV.

"Hinata,"

She stiffened and slowly turned around. She could only make it to his shoulder before she refused to look further. Sasuke pointed to the ground. "Sit there,"

At her silence and lack of movement, he crossed his arms. "I didn't burp," he explained. He smirked. "Those losers actually drank it,"

"Y-You mean you cheated?"

"Never said I couldn't or wouldn't,"

"It's implied," she said with an edge in her voice.

"Okay," he tilted his head, catching her eyes. "Then I didn't get caught,"

She shifted her weight. "I-I won't sit next to you,"

"Why?"

She gave him a look of disbelief. He was asking? "You make me uncomfortable,"

"Good,"

"W-What?

"If you won't sit, then let's take a walk,"

Hinata narrowed her eyes. She had no doubt that was code for "Let's go somewhere isolated so I can put you in a drum full of cement and drown you in the ocean."

Sasuke started walking without her. He glanced behind him and said, "This would be a good opportunity to interrogate me. Or maybe I can remind you of the time you asked Neji to pretend to be your mother so that you could skip PE so your slow ass didn't have to run in the sport's festival in middle school?"

"...You know too, too, _too_ much,"

"I have pictures too,"

Damn Neji for pulling off red lipstick and pumps so well.

He bared his teeth at her. "Wouldn't you like to level the playing field?"

She had wanted to do just that, but not on his terms.

He turned all the way back to her and headed back. Sasuke opened the mysterious bag that Naruto had bought and started pulling out cans of beer.

"Underage drinking!" Hinata hissed.

He rolled them towards where Naruto and Lee were singing an emotional duet. Sasuke stood and walked back to her.

He looked at her sagely. "Do you think it would be a good idea for you to be here when they drink?"

It would still be a better option than walking off alone with him.

She turned her head and saw that Shino was leaning against a tree. He nodded and gave her a thumbs up. There was some comfort in that, oddly.

Hinata looked at him from the corner of her eye with a petulant lip. "You are buying."

lllll

"Your parents live in Hong Kong,"

"Common knowledge,"

"Your brother was in a gang,"

"Yeah,"

Hinata rolled her coffee can between her hands to cool them off. "S-So your parents tried grooming you in his place,"

"Anything with more brain cells than Naruto could deduce that," He shook his hair out of his eyes. "Naturally the title would go to the second born in the event that the firstborn isn't viable,"

She flinched a bit at that. It had hit close to home and she suspected that he knew it. Hinata had been diligent about keeping a safe distance from him, preferably one where he couldn't stab her or shoot her kneecaps without giving her a chance to escape. He had other ideas. He took a step forward and rubbed his chin as he sized her up.

"You would be a shitty informant. You need to ask the touchy questions if you want something worth selling," He took another step towards her. She was also diligent about keeping her back to the open so she couldn't be cornered. "Of course, you need to know how and when to ask them and if you can defend yourself when you push the right button,"

Sasuke stopped and glared at her cowering. "Stop backing away,"

"S-Stop cornering me,"

He leaned against the vending machine. Fluorescent light cast shadows on his face. "Girl, boy, whatever, if you can put up a fight then I'll fight. You though...first, your reflexes suck,"

He chucked his empty can at her shoulder.

"Ow!"

"You don't have much muscle either," He grabbed her bicep and pinched, unimpressed. He pulled her to him to study her face, his other hand holding and tilting her face at different angles. "Your looks aren't intimidating," His gaze flickered to her gentle eyes and briefly to her full lips.

She blushed at the scrutiny and close proximity. His fingers and body heat were unexpectedly warm, as she had convinced herself that he was in fact a cold-blooded creature of some sort.

"Is the Hyuga heiress – ex-heiress – rebelling? Joining a gang because maybe then daddy would care?"

Her blood boiled. With quickness that was long underutilized, she broke away and distanced herself from him. He watched her not with his usual disinterest but with something that unsettled her more; interest, the kind that put a twinkle in his eye that was purely wicked, a corner of his mouth curled up in an abominable hybrid of a smile and a sneer. Her nails tore into her palms, calm white eyes now blazing like hot white sparks.

"Your actions are no different than mine,"

"Exactly," he said. He pushed off the vending machine and stood close to her once again. "The more I look, the more similarities I find,"

"Do not compare me to you based on your research," The adrenaline seared through her, her heart ramming into her ribs and punctuating each word. "You and I have never held a proper conversation yet you think you can make these kinds of assumptions about me? That would make you a child who wanted his father's attention so badly he would turn to a well-known criminal and pedophile for it,"

A response. If she hadn't been glaring craters into him, she wouldn't have caught the twitch in his jaw or the tension between his brows. That look in his eyes, like she was something to spectate or play with, had vanished. In its place was something worse; dilated eyes, his stare a black void that raised every hair on her body on end. Expressionless as his face was, his anger rolled off him in waves. In hindsight, angering a gang leader was not her brightest idea but she couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction it brought her even if it – and her – was short-lived. She didn't feel that anything she said was undeserved.

"Sasukeeeeeeeh!"

Naruto came barreling out of the park and onto Sasuke's back. His black gaze stayed on hers before moving to the other boy. Hinata stepped back, finally breathing her own air. She hadn't liked that he had gotten so close that she could feel his breath on her face.

"Hina – hic! – Hina-chan's 'ere too! Were you have a civi-civili- a conversssation –hic!- again?"

"What the hell is Shikamaru doing?" Sasuke said, growling when Naruto pulled his hair.

"Not being his damn babysitter," Shikamaru appeared, glancing between him and Hinata, who was nursing her lukewarm drink.

Sasuke dragged Naruto along with him back to the park without sparing her a look. Hinata's stomach squirmed – she dared not to call it fluttering – at the feeling that she'd won something.


End file.
